Random Child: Treatment

Progressive Rock

Rating: 3.0/5.0

Zounds! Who are these aliens? Random Child, apparently. A bunch of guys from the Big Apple who are waist deep in this post-rock muck plus a few other genres floating around the rock n' roll universe's sewer. Undergrad, blogger, percussionist, and singer Ian Cory's is the awful emotional voice that inhabits the thoughtful tracks here whose multifaceted sound embodies the band's MySpace moniker: Musical torture. Rightly so. Starting with the awkward melody defining 'Subjects' the band, who are still busy surviving college, proceed to meander on the path of experimentation using moods galore and fancy schmancy musical noodles. You hear Tool, System of A Down, Coheed and Cambria, even Muse, and then some. And is that heavy metal getting its time of day on 'Illusions'?

Confusing as their adventurous debut might be, the warm bodies inside Random Child have quite the vivid imagination to amuse themselves. Just enjoy the storytelling of 'Illusions' and the closing tracks 'Angel of Dead New York' and 'Stasis.' Being a long, winding trip into the heart of the odd and contemplative, if these dudes have a few wrinkles blemishing their first album, it's found on the production side of things. Despite its weak mix though, heaps of spaced out material rears its mug for 'Pilgrimage,' which goes on a limb to stretch matters and induce the sensation of witnessing a build up to a wonderful climax. Stick around long enough and you're gonna dig its subtle surprises.

'Plague' is a far more colorful beast, which once again showcases Mr. Ian Cory's soft vocals to the accompaniment of a stripped down rhythm section. The album makes a turn for the strange when the guitars enter the fray as the lyrics get intense, the whole affair nosedives in a swamp of lazy tempos and thoughtless enunciations. A tasteful exercise in musical expression, Random Child are the multiracial kids of the Big Apple's eclectic music scene.

In Short

A tasteful exercise in musical expression, Random Child are the multiracial kids of the Big Apple's eclectic music scene.

Find A Review

Alphabetical Index

I wonder if Magic Dance creator Jon Siejka is old enough to have seen any John Hughes films back in the Eighties. You know, like Pretty In Pink, Sixteen Candles, or Some Kind Of Wonderful? Was he even born ... [ Read More ]